Hermione's Rival
by Haunted Veela
Summary: Hermione welcomes new student Jasmine Lloyd to Hogwarts, but finds that the shy, pretty student rivals her in each and every lesson. She grows close to the Gryffindors and gets perfect grades in everything. Hermione has never dealt with a rival before, so how will she treat the mysterious, delicate girl once she joins their group? Hermione and Jasmine's POV Chapters
1. Chapter One

Hermione Granger sat between Harry and Ron on the bench and grinned. She was extremely pleased to be back at Hogwarts, for there was lots of learning to be done and no doubt plenty more adventures to be had. She glanced at the food wistfully, willing the rest of the students to sit down so the Sorting could take place, and then she could tuck in.

A line of terrified First Years were led in by Professor McGonagall, and Hermione smiled, remembering how she had felt when she first walked in. Although she was in awe, she had been scared herself, worrying that perhaps she wasn't really a witch, seeing as her parents were Muggles. She clapped for every new Gryffindor, and also the other Houses too, except Slytherin. Then Dumbledore stood up at the end of the Sorting, just as everyone was about to grab food. Ron groaned in hunger, and Hermione gave him a stern look, before returning her full attention to the headmaster.

"We also have a new Fifth Year student joining us this year, and I hope that our current Fifth Years will welcome her to Hogwarts. Please give Jasmine Lloyd a warm greeting."

The huge doors opened and a tall girl walked in awkwardly, smiling nervously. A few of the boys were craning their necks to have a look at her. She was pretty, very pretty. Her wavy dirty blonde hair reached her shoulders and she had a fair complexion, with rosy cheeks and dimples when she smiled. She was led down between the tables to the stool, and the hat was placed upon her head. The poor thing looked extremely nervous, Hermione noted. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, the Sorting Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione clapped loudly along with all of the other Gryffindors. The Weasley twins were catcalling, and Hermione frowned disapprovingly. Jasmine, now beaming, skipped to the table, eyeing up the students. She ignored the small First and Second Years, and sat down right beside Hermione.

"Everyone tuck in," Dumbledore announced, smiling.

"Hello. I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione decided to take charge and also become the girl's friend. She was always alone in her dormitory, not being terribly good friends with the other girls. Jasmine smiled again.

"I'm Jasmine Lloyd." She had a Yorkshire accent. Looking around her in wonder, she gestured up to the ceiling. "It's fantastic, isn't it? I never knew how picturesque Hogwarts would be."

Hermione was impressed by Jasmine's vocabulary. "Oh yes! I mean, I had already read _Hogwarts, A History_ -"

"Me too!" Jasmine looked amazed. "It was a brilliant read, wasn't it?"

Hermione was slightly taken aback. She was well known for being the only person who had read the whole book. Still, she tried not to look crestfallen. It didn't really matter after all.

"It was great," Hermione said passionately. "I think we're the only two who've read it!" she added with a laugh.

There wasn't much talking after that, for Hermione was ravenous and ate lots of delicious food; roast beef, pork chops, casserole, roast and mashed potatoes… She rivalled Ron in her eating habits that evening, though of course he ate far more.

"Honestly Ronald, it's like you've never been fed before!" Hermione said jokingly, an eyebrow raised. She turned to check that Jasmine was alright and found her picking at roast potatoes and peas. Upon catching her eye, Jasmine smiled weakly.

"Not hungry?" Hermione asked gently, wondering how on earth the new girl could resist the feast.

"No," Jasmine mumbled, pushing the plate away. She stared at Hermione intently with her hazel eyes. "I'm a bit homesick actually," she admitted. "Plus I'm the only new Fifth Year…"

"How come you didn't join in First Year?" Hermione asked without thinking.

Jasmine shrugged. "Oh, you know… family issues." Hermione didn't push it.

Up in the dormitory, Parvarti and Lavender were making a fuss over Jasmine.

"You have such perfect skin!" Lavender said in awe. It was true that Jasmine's complexion was near perfect. Hermione immediately touched her own skin; it was fine, but nowhere near as clear as hers.

Jasmine looked a bit embarrassed but pleased too. "Thanks." She broke away gently and began to get ready for bed.

"We go to bed fairly early so we wake up in time tomorrow for breakfast, it begins at 8: 15," Hermione told Jasmine, who was now brushing her soft blonde hair. She nodded, and changed into a purple nightdress before settling down beneath the covers. Hermione changed into her usual blue shirt and leggings combination, not too stylish but comfortable. She rolled into her warm bed and fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow.


	2. Chapter Two

**Thanks for the reviews! I take advice from them so make sure to comment on anything I have missed!**

The next day, Hermione woke up, full of excitement for the lessons to come. She leapt up, the first girl to rise, and pulled out her uniform. She changed quickly, giving her bushy hair a few brushes with her comb, then paced the room with ten minutes left to go.

The others all woke up eventually, groaning and not wanting to get up. Hermione waited for Jasmine, and together they went down to the Hall in silence.

The boys joined them, yawning and looking half asleep. Hermione helped herself to bacon and eggs, and was pleased to see Jasmine nibbling on some jam toast, having not eaten much the previous night. She looked a bit happier too, because Gryffindors were approaching her and introducing themselves.

After breakfast, the students were given their timetables. Every Fifth Year groaned; first of all was History of Magic. Hermione obviously didn't mind, having read the whole of A History of Magic.

"I'm so glad I read A History of Magic before I came here." Jasmine said this so softly that she nearly missed it. So she had read that book too? Hermione turned to her, amazed.

"Do your parents read a lot of books too?" Hermione asked.

"Well, yes, but… you see… my parents are Muggles," Jasmine admitted. "So they read Muggle literature, but they loved hearing about my world too."

"Oh!" Hermione said in surprise. "My parents are Muggles too! Are you good at magic?"

"I don't know. I haven't really tried any. And I've never taken any lessons."

A small, mean part of Hermione hoped that Jasmine wouldn't be clever. She loved being the know-it-all of their year, their house even. Still, just because she'd read some books didn't mean she'd be good at lessons. Hermione wasn't sure.

The Gryffindors all walked to Professor Binns classroom together. Hermione sat down at the front with Jasmine, and Ron and Harry sat behind them.

Professor Binns wasted no time in beginning his lecture. Behind them, Ron was preparing to take a map. Harry was absentmindedly waving his wand. Lavender slumped in her seat, bored already.

They were meant to be taking notes on Goblin Rebellions. It wasn't the most interesting thing in the world, but Hermione wrote out as many notes as she could manage within the hour and a half that they were sat in there for. At the end of the lesson, Hermione, satisfied, rolled up her parchment and glanced at Jasmine's work. To her shock, she had written just as many notes, if not more.

"I didn't know you were good at History of Magic," Hermione said, somewhat annoyed. She alone was the one to take good notes in the class. Although she knew it was unreasonable, she couldn't help but feel a bit put-out.

"Wow!" Ron leaned over from their table. He, of course, had written nothing. "Hermione, looks like you've got a rival!"

Hermione scowled, putting her equipment back into her bag.

Hermione had her suspicions that Jasmine was indeed a very talented witch. By the time Potions had ended, her suspicions were confirmed.

They all lined up outside the Potions classroom, and Hermione, for something to say, asked Jasmine what her favourite music was.

"I like The Beatles, but sometimes I enjoy pop music too," Jasmine said. Hermione had no idea how to respond, seeing as she rarely listened to bands as old as the Beatles, but was saved by Snape opening the door and ordering them all inside.

Once the class had settled, Snape glared down his hooked nose at them all.

"I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting a important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions."

He then assigned them a new Potion to create; Draught of Peace. It was tricky, harder than anything they had previously done, but Hermione felt confident about it. She set all her ingredients out neatly, and turned to Jasmine, who was seated next to her.

"Want any help?" Hermione offered, used to assisting her fellow Potions classmates.

"No thanks." Jasmine was reading the instructions carefully. Hermione had a sudden thought.

"Jasmine," Hermione said casually. "You know you've only just started this school?"

"Mhm."

"Shouldn't you be with the First Years? I mean, you've missed out on an awful lot."

Jasmine turned to look at Hermione, hazel eyes wide. "I took a test a few days before term started. I spent the whole summer revising, and they seemed to think my knowledge was acceptable, so I was placed with my own age group." Smiling, she began adding powdered moonstone to her potion, until it turned green.

After three hours had passed, Snape looked up.

"Right," he said softly. "Let's take a look at your draughts."

He swept around the room, criticising everyone. Then Snape stopped at Hermione's. It was an off-white colour, which Hermione was pleased with; it had been a difficult potion to brew.

"Passable," Snape sneered, before looking at Jasmine's. Hermione looked too, and her stomach lurched. It was perfect white, not a fault with it.

"Very good," Snape said quietly, lip curling. "Miss Lloyd, is it?"

"Yes sir," Jasmine said politely.

"Top marks," Snape told her, scribbling notes onto his parchment. "Excellent."

Snape had never called anyone excellent before. And he had certainly never called Hermione excellent. After taking a sample of her draught up to his desk, she threw her stuff into her bag, fuming and wishing that Jasmine Lloyd had never joined Hogwarts.


	3. Chapter Three

By dinner, Hermione's anger had simmered a little bit. So what if Jasmine was clever? She, Hermione Jean Granger, did not need to be jealous of another intelligent witch.

Even so, after eating steak and kidney pie, Hermione resolved to do plenty of research before her next Potions class, just to make sure she stayed top. She couldn't help but wonder why Snape praised her like that when she was a Gryffindor. Snape hated Gryffindors, it was well known, and the man certainly never said anything nice to them.

She pushed the thought out of her mind, and finished off her dinner. Jasmine, who was sat beside her again, of course had eaten nothing. Hermione had given up pushing it already; it was clear she had some sort of issue with the Hogwarts food. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Jasmine was staring at her again with big brown eyes. It was slightly unnerving.

"Could you show me where the library is? Professor McGonagall said that there'd be lots of books to help me with my lessons, and I have some catching up to do," Jasmine explained. Hermione felt annoyed at the fact that she was justifying _why_ she had to go to the library. Why did she have to justify it?

Plus, the library was Hermione's favourite place to be, somewhere quiet where she could do her work.

"Sure, I'm heading there in a minute," Hermione said irritably. She had ignored all the mouth-watering desserts, so she got up and strode off, expecting Jasmine just to follow.

Outside in the corridor, Jasmine ran to catch her up.

"So, I heard there's lots of really interesting books," Jasmine said earnestly, as something to say. There was an awkward pause as Hermione decided not to grace her with a reply. "Urm… I heard some of them are quite complex though-"

"Oh well, I'm sure _you'll_ be able to manage," Hermione snapped, completely out of character in her annoyance. Jasmine Lloyd was like an irritating insect, constantly buzzing at her. In truth, there was no reason for Hermione to be annoyed at her, she just felt like it.

"I really hope so," Jasmine said timidly, "but I'm sure you could help me! Everyone says you're really smart!"

Hermione snorted, pushing the door open to the library and allowing Jasmine to go in first.

"Oh wow," Jasmine whispered, staring round her in awe. "There's so many books in here!"

Leaving her to look round, Hermione walked confidently to the Potions section. She began looking at likely titles and pulled a few out, before Jasmine approached yet again.

"Sorry to disturb you, but where could I find books on advanced Arithmancy?"

"Ask the librarian!" Hermione naturally knew exactly where the books on Arithmancy were but she wasn't about to waste time. Jasmine nodded.

"Will you show me the way back to Gryffindor Tower? I can't remember how to get back from here."

" _Yes_ ," Hermione said rudely.

Jasmine crept away.

After five minutes, Hermione took all the books she could carry and slipped away. She checked all the books out, then slid out the door silently. Once she was in the corridor, she marched quickly back to Gryffindor tower and took her books upstairs to the dormitory. Then she got out her homework and returned to the common room to sit with Harry and Ron.

"We have so much homework," Harry grumbled.

"I hate Divination so much," Ron said. Hermione felt a wave of pity; she had hated the lesson too.

"Hey, where's Jasmine?" Harry asked suddenly.

"In the library," Hermione said with a scowl, remembering that she was meant to lead her back. Harry didn't notice.

Time passed, Hermione finished her homework quickly. She sat and watched the boys complete their work, feeling sleepy.

Then the portrait hole opened, and Jasmine was led in by Professor McGonagall.

"Tomorrow I shall give you a map, should you ever get lost again," McGonagall said kindly to Jasmine. "Maybe Miss Granger could help you?"

"Thank you," Jasmine whispered, and slinked away, to the dormitories. Hermione realised how late it was getting, and how the other girls had already gone up, so she said goodnight to Harry and Ron and slowly made her way up to the dorms.

"Thanks for showing me back," Jasmine said as soon as Hermione entered. She looked away, avoiding eye contact. Hermione stared at her back. Then she chose not to reply.

"You know, I have no clue why you dislike me so much, but I haven't done anything wrong," Jasmine went on, her voice trembling. "I just want to make friends here-"

"Oh, give up the act," Hermione snarled. "You pretend to be all helpless and innocent and sensitive, when I know that you aren't!"

"Look. I've had a really difficult time these past four years-"

"Poor you," Hermione said sarcastically. This seemed to anger Jasmine, who turned on her in a sinister manner.

"My mother is dead, my father is an abusive alcoholic and I live with foster parents!" Jasmine shouted at her. Hermione stopped, feeling shame flow through her. She wouldn't let it show, though.

"We don't have much money, I live in a tiny house, and now some girl who I've only just met is being nasty to me," Jasmine said angrily. "I don't even see why."

Lavender and Parvati were watching, glaring at Hermione. They didn't like her too much.

"All I want," Jasmine finished, "is some friends here."

Hermione knew she should apologise, but instead stuck her nose in the air. If she hadn't beaten her in Potions…

"Just don't talk to her," Lavender said in disgust. "I never knew she was that mean. Always knew she was a stuck-up know-it-all but still…"

There was a sniffling sound behind her – Jasmine was crying. Hermione now felt bad, and turned to face her.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said, looking at Jasmine's feet. "I didn't mean to-"

But Jasmine buried her face in Parvati's shoulder and refused to look at her. Somehow, Hermione knew damage had been done.


	4. Chapter Four

**Jasmine's POV**

"Good morning."

Jasmine ducked her head after the soft, quiet greeting, and kept brushing her hair. She wore her hair in unplaited pigtails every day.

"Morning," Hermione said hastily. "Erm, Jasmine? About last night-"

"Don't worry about it," Jasmine said quietly. She turned to face her. "We all have our bad days. You have many friends over in the boy's dorm, and I rather think that Lavender and Parvati are biased."

Hermione blinked at this extraordinary statement. Jasmine smiled gently and turned away. She didn't really feel angry at Hermione. Possibly, she felt that by having another person like her around that she wasn't good enough.

After a while, Hermione timidly spoke.

"Uh… do you want to go down to breakfast now?"

"Yes," Jasmine said softly, and she followed her out of the dormitory. She decided that breakfast would be a good time to act about extra-curricular activities.

~~~(O.O)~~~

 **Hermione's POV**

Over the next few days, Hermione tried very hard. She tried hard to befriend Jasmine, but just could not bring herself to like her. In truth, she was jealous.

Once Jasmine had found out that there was no Hogwarts dance club, she started a petition so one could be arranged. To Hermione's immense surprise, it was popular and many girls signed it. It was presented to Professor Dumbledore, and the club was started. It was run by a young female teacher who Hermione had never heard of, and an unused classroom was turned into an old-fashioned dance room.

Every Tuesday lunchtime, most girls in Third Year and above joined this club. Hermione, not being terribly active or good at dancing, didn't join but spent a lot of time spying on them through a small window. Many just went for the fun of it, but Jasmine Lloyd was good at dancing. She _looked_ like a ballet dancer, and spent hours pirouetting and twirling around the room. Girls stood, mesmerised by her dancing. Hermione was mesmerised too. She was elegant, beautiful, and fascinating to watch.

A few weeks after the club was formed, Hermione signed up to join.

"Hermione, dancing?" Ron sniggered. "Hermione can't dance!" He and Harry grinned at each other. This was too much for Hermione, who was permanently on the verge of breaking point. She stormed off up to bed early and lay sulking by herself.

Jasmine, however, looked cheerful when Hermione announced her decision.

"I joined Ancient Art too! It's very good, you study it and get to draw your own stuff!" Jasmine showed her a sketch she had nearly finished. It was depressingly good.

"What day is it on?" Hermione asked.

"Thursday lunchtimes."

So Hermione signed up for Ancient Art too, and hoped that she turned out to have a talent in art and dance.

~~~(O.O)~~~

Sadly, Hermione turned out to be not so good at either activity.

Dance was a disaster. Hermione turned up, very out of place, in her uniform. Everyone else was wearing appropriate dance attire.

"Not to worry!" the teacher said brightly, when an embarrassed Hermione approached. "We have spare clothes!" She handed her canary yellow leggings and a moth-eaten black shirt. Hermione changed shyly in the corner, then went up to Jasmine confidently.

"You can do whatever dance you want," Jasmine told her, as if she owned the club. "I do ballet." She smiled widely, showing pearly white teeth, then leapt into a complicated and graceful sequence, finishing with a bow.

"Could you show me a simpler dance?" Hermione asked. So Jasmine taught her a long but relatively easy dance, involving an impressive pirouette at the end.

"You try now!" Jasmine said brightly, taking a step back. Everyone had watched Jasmine and applauded her enthusiastically, so Hermione had all eyes on her. Taking a deep breath, Hermione began the dance sequence.

She was nowhere near as graceful or nimble as the other girl. A few times she wobbled and nearly fell over. And then she heard snigger, from Pansy Parkinson and her friends. Hermione couldn't bear it.

"Urm, I think I need more practise on that one," Hermione said in a falsely bright, couldn't care less tone. "But I have urgent homework I need to do, so I must go." Collecting her clothes and changing quickly, she fled the room with tears in her eyes. The last thing she saw was Jasmine, waving her arms and stepping forwards delicately, with everyone watching in awe.

Ancient Art wasn't much better. It seemed that the schools best artists had joined this club, judging by their works.

"I'm copying this right now," Jasmine said, showing Hermione a complex and detailed portrait of a beautiful woman. "Do you want to use it too?"

Hermione nodded, determined to be good at this. She wrote a few pages about it in her new book, then took some parchment and a special art pencil, and began sketching.

Having the very talented Jasmine Lloyd drawing next to her didn't help. Hermione kept comparing constantly throughout the session. Also, there was the major problem of Hermione not being able to draw whatsoever.

By the end, the parchment had three holes in it from rubbing so hard, and Jasmine was finished, excitedly showing everyone her piece.

"It's lovely, Jasmine," Hermione snapped, abandoning her pencil and book. "Really good."

And she stormed out of the classroom, cursing artwork and ballet dancing.


	5. Chapter Five

_Jasmine's POV_

BANG!

The harsh sound of a gunshot echoed, followed by police sirens. She felt an impending sense of doom, like she was about to be taken and locked away for good...

And then Jasmine woke up, her hair sticking to her forehead. 'Just a dream,' she thought to herself. Even so, it wasn't just any dream. It reminded her strongly of The Night. The Night was something that she wanted to forget about forever. Pushing it to the back of her mind never worked for long, though it helped get her through everyday life. If she ignored it, Jasmine could be just like every other student at the school.

She got up to get herself a glass of water. And sensed that someone was looking at her.

Yet when she turned, everyone was asleep. Except Hermione lay far too stiffly to be properly asleep. Had she been watching her?

Jasmine slid back into bed slowly, and lay awake for at least an hour, praying that once sleep took over, she would not have any more bad dreams or flashbacks...

 _Hermione's POV_

She'd had a nightmare. Hermione couldn't forget the look of horror on Jasmine's face when she'd suddenly shot up in bed. Despite the undeniable jealousy, the kinder (and stronger) part of her wanted to reach out to her and ask if she was okay.

But by the time they'd gone down to breakfast, the moment had passed. Instead, she found Jasmine surrounded by Seventh Years; they were all staring in awe at her like she was a goddess.

Fred and George were teasing her in their usual witty way, and she was responding smartly, though humorously, which seemed to impress them. Angelina and Alicia were admiring her soft blonde hair, tied up in two pigtails.

"Everyone seems to love her," Hermione commented casually to Harry and Ron when she'd sat down. Harry was too busy staring at Cho to even register what had been said, but Ron shrugged.

"Fred and George think she's really good-looking, but I don't see it." He seemed uninterested, stuffing his face. Hermione's heart sank slightly. _Both twins?_

 _Jasmine's POV_

Though giving off a calm and intelligent demeanour, Jasmine's heart was thumping widely and her palms were slightly sweaty, to her embarrassment.

She had never met anyone like the Weasley twins. Their witty banter seemed infinite; the jokes kept rolling off their tongues. It appeared that hardly anyone could tell them apart, but she could. The one to the left, George, had the most... _perfect_ face. Jasmine could hardly keep her eyes off him.

She blushed as she made another smart remark, though nowhere near as clever as what he could come up with.

"Come on everyone, off to lessons, no dawdling!" Professor McGonagall said briskly, stopping behind Jasmine. "Are you okay, Miss Lloyd?"

"Yes thanks Professor. Do we have Transfiguration after first lesson?"

"We do indeed. You have made excellent progress." McGonagall smiled at her.

It was looking to be a promising day as Jasmine skipped off to Herbology. It was relaxing in the greenhouses, although she still couldn't quite shake the uncomfortable feeling that had been haunting her ever since she woke up. The dream about The Night had startled her, but none of the students could ever know...


End file.
